POSTPONED: Create habitat heaps

POSTPONED DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER; WILL BE RESCHEDULED IN LATE WINTER/EARLY SPRING

They may not look like much, but “habitat piles” are a boon to wildlife. Large piles of woody debris create perching sites for songbirds. They shelter frogs and salamanders seeking dark, wet refuges. On a floodplain they help slow the movement of water, creating resting places for juvenile salmon. As they age, the wood in the heaps slowly breaks down, adding richness to the soil. NCLC has used habitat piles as part of its forest restoration project high on Boneyard Ridge. Now volunteers are invited to create habitat heaps on the floodplain at Circle Creek.

If you’d like to help, contact NCLC Stewardship Director Melissa Reich at 503-738-9126 or melissar@nclctrust.org to let her know you’re coming. Wear sturdy boots and gloves. All necessary tools will be provided. Bring drinking water and lunch; there will be no toilets or potable water on site. Dogs are not allowed on NCLC properties.

Circle Creek Conservation Center is at the end of Rippet Road in Seaside; look for it on the west side of US 101, 0.7 mile north of the junction with US 26. Follow the road west and north a short distance, passing a gravel quarry on your left, to where it ends between two barns.

People+Plants+Wildlife

This male is returning to take his turn incubating the eggs, which are hard to distinguish from the parking lot gravel. The pair started by scraping a slight depression in the gravel, then enhanced it with sticks of wood and

Jeff Roehm is one of NCLC’s most active volunteers. He splits his time among Portland, where he has lived most of his life; Manzanita, where he has a second home; and Seaside, where he grew up and where he serves

When naturalist Neal Maine looks at a tree—or a single leaf, as in the photo above—he doesn’t just see the tree, or the shrub. He sees a gigantic solar panel. Check it out: Photosynthesis, the encyclopedia reminds us, is